Entries from April 2007 ↓

See Paris.

See Paris Cook.

See Paris cook chicken rice with sawi (mustard greens English speakers) and oyster sauce.

Yum! Yum!

Yes it was yummy though the rice was a tad wet. This was a quick dinner I whipped up one evening when I got home a little earlier from work. Just 15 minutes to prepare and it was ready in about half an hour.

I marinated about 1/4 chicken with oyster sauce, soy sauce, pepper and some sesame oil and left it for a while. I’d have marinated it for longer, but did not have the time. Then I washed the rice and measured out the water. I was told later that chicken will add water which was why my rice turned out wet. So, you have to cut down on the water a tad. I used a rice cooker.

I chopped up about 4 cloves of garlic (I’d add ginger and shallots if I had any) and fried them in some butter until brown and fragrant. Then I added the butter and garlic mix into the rice, put the chicken pieces on top and put it to cook in the rice cooker. Wait for it to be cooked and ta-da!

The vegetables were just scalded in hot boiling water. Then I fried up some garlic and some oyster sauce with some water added to dilute the sauce a little. When ready, I poured it over the vegetables.

I was tucking into a hearty hot homecooked meal in under an hour. Beats trying to figure out what to eat outside and paying a bomb for it!

This is my mobile phone.

Or rather, this WAS my mobile phone.

The whole weekend long, the screen on this phone was playing hide and seek with me. At certain times, the internal screen would flicker, or it would just go blank to what is commonly referred to as “The White Screen of Death”. I would cajole it a bit, with promises of sweet nothings and it would come back to life, allowing me to send or read my text messages. The next time I open up the clamshell, BAM! Again we see the disastrous white screen.

As the weekend wore on, the white screen on the internal screen would come on more and more frequently. The external screen remained normal. Until Sunday afternoon when out of the blue, the external screen turned into a monochrome screen. Very odd.

By Sunday evening, the phone was as good as dead. The white screen on the internal screen was permanent and the external screen remained monochome. No amount of rebooting would jar the phone to life. Not much use to me, as I could not make phone calls or text messages - I could receive calls and text messages but it was hardly any use as I could not read anything!

This is not the first time it’s happened. The same problem occurred towards the end of last year just before the warranty period ended i.e. about 10 months into the warranty and 10 months from the date of purchase. When I checked with Sony Ericcson’s service centre I was told it was a “connection problem” and could be fixed for RM100. I did not have to pay then as it was under warranty. Now, approximately 6 months down the road, same problem again.

It made me think. If the phone failed 10 months after purchase and failed again 6 months after changing the part, what guarantee is there that it will not fail again in 6 months time if I decide to spend RM100 on repair costs?

So I had to resort to resurrecting my old faithful. This is a T68i Sony Ericsson phone. It is about 5 years old and going strong - relatively, except for a sticky keypad.

This has been used for a spare phone throughout my other phone’s hospital stays last year (there were many) and even for bro when his phone died.

This was my first Sony Ericsson phone and what made me decide to continue with SE as I liked the interface.

Well, after the latest debacle, I’m afraid its no more Sony Ericsson for me!

Someone told me this connection problem is common in clamshell/flip phones. But I’ve known people who’ve owned such phones for years without problems cropping up. In fact, my bro used to own a Samsung clamshell that only started having this “connection problem” that caused blank internal screens, after about 4 years of use. By contrast, my Sony Ericsson Z520i is only about 1 year 4 months old. Ridiculous? Yes.

I did a bit of research online and found that this white screen phenomenon seems quite common among Sony Ericsson phones. Even their candybar models are not immune. Mobile phones aren’t cheap. I’d hardly call them disposable after paying hundreds or even over RM1,000 for a phone. So, it looks like Sony Ericsson is now totally off my list of phones to look at, no matter how attractive or cheap they may be!

So, I’m in the market for a new phone. Possibly one of those slider types (Samsung does some cute ones) or candy-bar types. No more flip phones for a while. And, I’m on a tight budget, so only phones in the hundreds category may apply. I’m even ok with an older model so long as it doesn’t crash on me in a year!

Any recs?

This was the exact question I asked when I saw it in Cold Storage.

What is a Mandora?

Wikipedia spewed out this nugget of information:

The mandora or mandore, also known as the gallizona or gallichon, is a type of 6 or 8-course bass lute (possibly a descendant of guiterne and/or chitarra italiana) used mainly for basso continuo, in Germany, Austria and Bohemia, particularly during the 18th and early 19th centuries.

The Mandora is often mistaken for Mandore, a small 16th- and 17th-century French type of a lute, or mandola

Hmm… not quite what I had in mind when I bought this:

A Mandora is a very expensive kum - mandarin orange from Cyprus. It cost me RM1.60 for just 1 orange!! But its huge. Here’s a picture of it next to a 20 sen coin for comparison.

I googled for more information on the Mandora and found out that its actually a hybrid fruit:

In April 2002, Mr. Cohen finalized his four-year work with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to open the U.S. market to Cyprus citrus. Lemons and Mandoras are the primary citrus products he imports from Cyprus. The name Mandora is a synthesis of Mand(-arine) and ora (nge), which it was given after considerable thought about this hybrid of a very high-quality fruit developed by cross-pollination of the two varieties.

According to information provided by Mr. Cohen, a Mandora orange has a rather flat shape and a deep orange color. The pulp is tender and extremely juicy, often exceeding 60 percent of the whole fruit’s weight. The juice is of outstanding color, while the flavor is extremely sweet but well balanced with acidity and has a strong, rich aroma. It does not develop delayed bitterness. Mandoras are imported from January into April.

See how juicy it looks? I had chilled it so it looked and smelt so very inviting. So I separated one slice in great anticipation and put it in my mouth.

OHEFFEFFEFF!! IT WAS FREAKING SOUR!!

It was so sour I could feel the acidity working its way to melting my teeth. It was so sour my stick straight hair could curl! (So Cheesey if you are reading this be careful coz rebonding is expensive eh?) *shudder*

But I’d paid RM1.60 for it remember? Ate it I did. Every single last sour piece of it.

To be fair, it did have a nice taste once I got over the initial sourness of it. And it was extremely juicy. Maybe the batch imported here was not yet ripened when shipped. Would I try it again? Maybe. Some day. When the wallet is feeling more nourished.

Today’s Friday the 13th! *cue music from Psycho’s shower scene*

And I decide to go for a haircut. At a new salon.

Murphy’s Law dictates that everything that can go wrong will. Then again, today’s Friday 13th. Maybe Murphy’s Law will be reversed today and I’ll end up looking like a million bucks.

*crosses fingers, toes and eyes*

UPDATE: I do look like a million bucks! Damn! A great haircut and style is such a boost to the flagging ego!! :D :D  Eat my shorts “ghost”! Sorry boys and girls, I don’t do online pics

Dictionary.com defines apathy thus

Apathy [ap-uh-thee]
–noun, plural -thies.
1. absence or suppression of passion, emotion, or excitement.
2. lack of interest in or concern for things that others find moving or exciting.

Here is a real-life definition of “apathy”.

Every night for the past week until today, from about 10pm onwards until the wee hours of the morning, I will hear a car alarm go off. It will sound for a long long time throughout the night until it cuts off or the car battery goes flat, whichever comes first. The sounds come from the same direction every night so I’m guessing its the same car in the same location.

So, apathy on the part of people living in that area = indifference. “Who cares if someone’s trying to steal that car? Its not mine!”

Apathy on the part of the car owner = Indifference. “My car? Nah…”

Could it be that someone is trying to steal that same car every night? Doesn’t a car alarm raise eyebrows anymore? Isn’t the car owner concerned about his car?!

Apathy.

This post is brought to you by the letter A.